Restaurant Plans to Reopen Just Days After Fire

Just three nights after a fire shut down , the Wayland favorite will welcome dinner guests back into the dining room Thursday.

Monday night left behind a few days worth of cleanup and repair and an initial damage estimate in excess of $50,000. But recovery went better than expected.

"The damage was ,” said Regional Manager Barry Garrison. He added that the restaurant did throw out thousands of dollars of food, but was able to save much of its food stores when officials granted the restaurant permission to restart its freezers and refrigerators Monday night.

Ultimately, Garrison said, a combination of hard work and good luck made the Thursday night reopening possible.

“We’ve got such great relationships with our builders – plumbers, electricians – they were out working around the clock to make things right,” Garrison said, explaining that teams began the recovery process immediately following the fire Monday night and were back at work at 7 a.m. Tuesday. "They worked in concert with each other. It was a great time to watch our folks."

Garrison said that Coach Grill staff members, many of whom are students, pitched in to help the restaurant recover.

"What a great group of kids we have,” he said. “Everybody just rolled their sleeves up and we got it done."

The fire was contained to the ventilation system, and Garrison said that 90 percent of what had to be replaced was located on the roof. No kitchen equipment required a full replacement, but a lot of electrical work needed to be completed and some lighting fixtures had to be replaced. In addition, the fire suppression system in the ventilation system had to be reset and charged, as it was activated during Monday's fire.

“Knock on wood, everything happened above the equipment, in the duct work and on the roof,” Garrison said.

Inspectors including the Wayland fire chief, building inspector and a representative from the Board of Health visited the restaurant Thursday morning and approved it to reopen Thursday at 5 p.m. for dinner.

"I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all representatives from the City of Wayland that helped us get back open for business," Garrison said. "From the first responders, to the firefighters that were here yesterday to support us, to the teams that performed the inspections this morning, they could not have been more helpful and supportive throughout the process. They showed a very genuine concern for the safety of our staff and guests and were sincerely interested in supporting us to get open."

Garrison said Coach Grill will serve a full menu Thursday night and is even moving ahead with plans to roll out a new dessert menu next week.

"It's business as usual like nothing happened," he said. "We’re committed to being in the community of Wayland for a long, long time. We certainly know that it’s gem out here in the suburbs."